Got the wife to take photos of USS MISSOURI, yesterday while I was giving it another shakedown to check reliablilty. Extremely pleased to report that the Roma's services as a back up rescue ship will no longer be required. I was able to get Go Pro video with a bows on, a view from the bridge perspectives and I got a cool view from Roma's boat deck looking towards the stern where you could see the plane on the catupult which was swung out to depict a lauching of the plane. The videos will take me a while to get on to Youtube but I will post some pics here now..
That's what surprised me the most. This ship is not tippy at all. I wanted ensure that my Iowa class wasn't tippy like the one I saw at Nats. I know that keeping the weight centered and low to the keel is key but with this one I needed to free up space so I stood the batteries up paired port and starboard with the 16oz and reg sandwiched between them. I figured that the hull should be stable because it's so deep and very long so that should take care of any stability issues. Also I don't have any equipment attached to the underside of the main deck. The gun hatches just have the cannons themselves so that keeps the center of gravity low too. Probably could have moved the batteres further forward to level out the trim without additional bow ballast, however I see that the stern dips low like a NC so getting the aft cannos to shoot low won't be an issue. I didn't modify the rear barbette to increase the height to get a better down angle. Also the superstructure is much lighter than balsa from what I understand of the high density foam. Ballast the ship out at it's weight makes it sit low but not beyond how it's supposed to sit. I know some of the ships of the Iowa class had very deep displacements or emergency loads they call it. I forget which one sits at full load 57,ooo tons emergency load it's called. I still have a lot of stuff to add to the structure but it's fairly light so it should't make much of an impact. I find too that since I don't have a bottle in the bow the bow itself barely pitches in the chop. Course that bow has quite the flare. It's a joy to operate and I can't wait to try it at another IRCWCC NATS.
Man, I was thing she was a little older then that!!! They are neat boats, I wish i had the money and my own van, I would love to get a boat that size, but my dad would kill me !! Also, this is off Wiki: 45,000 tons was there Standarded Displacement, 52,000 tons mean war service, 57,000 tons pre 1980s full load, 58,000 tons post 1980s full loaded. And I thing it was all four!!! Nikki
Thanks bb26. Glad you like it. I got more work to do to dress it up and of course it needs teeth . Trying to get the other 2 beasts out too.
Thanks. I am hoping to get video from the shore of the model conducting it's trials. Sunday is supposed to be nice day here for weather.
Think it was the last photo but if the houses were removed one could of sworn it was a modern pic of the real deal =D
Well I think the gears are finally broke in. The model ran yesterday for several hours and today and the gears were not so loud this time. I started experimenting with the ballast by moving the batteries around. I ran the ship just on 2 slas 6v 12 amp though the trim was good the model's stern was riding a little too high as the props were sucking air as the model accellerated. I added a 3rd battery lying down behind the pump with the co2 bottle butt up against it. The pair of SLA's were standing up in thier original locations. This time the stern was sitting proper and I could see the aft quarter of the hull trim out on the waterline. The waterline tape could be seen just breaking the surface. The model was tested for accelleration in reverse and forward. I noticed it made a quicker jump to reverse speed and took quite a distance before the stern began to get swamped. Acceleration was better too. Turning and heeling didn't see much of a differnece. The model's full hull line could be seen particlular the aft quarter whereas before at speed it didn't have much clearance and was prone to getting wet in a tight turn if there was any light chop on the water. It looks correct now with the 5lbs of ballast removed. Runs better with a cleaner wake back aft. I tried another run with the3rd battery standing up but width wise on the keel. A little tippy but not much of an impact to the handling. I ran it again with the battery lying flat across the hull bottom and I removed the drag discs to check for any improvement in turning. I didn't see any difference but after I speed test it over a course I will decide if I need the drag discs or just go with dummy props. I think I got the model down to 43 lbs or maybe 44lbs from the 47 lbs that was in it. I can run the pump dedicated to the 3rd battery or just tie that in with the other pair. I just need to move the co2 regulator mount a few inches forward in the hull and secure the 3rd battery. Now I have clearance for my stern cannon mags to run straight back towards the center of the hull . I like the reserve buoyancy and I like that the model's freeboard from midships back when running is more visible than before. Least it's dry back there now. Other than that it was a good run except for a couple of close encounters with a Yahoo on a jetski who took in an interest in trying to swamp the MO with the waves from his jet ski. This idiot kept getting closer and closer and when he got witing 30 ft he would throttle and suddenly drop down throttle and rev it back up again. The waves were monstrous. I saw the Mo go high up on a crest than dissappear for a moment than come back up again. I kept the bow towards the incoming waves and kept the pump on. I saw the entire bow section go under. Fortunatly the Mo cruised out of it and was safely back to shore. Thank God for the pump!
Well sea trial were successful at 41 lbs. Going out today for speed testing. Will post the results of that sometime this weekend. Here are some pics of the Mo trimmed out at 40-41lbs and some other interesting shots. Enjoy Nothing like basking in the sun at your local pond enjoying your model ship. Removing moss Off it goes into the deep blue sea... or pond or lake ..whatever.. Mo checks out the canoe Mo preparing to follow the intruders. Mo is picking up speed as the paddlers begin to paddle harder It looks like Mo is towing the paddlers in the canoe. This is Mo coming back from the middle of the Lake. A high powered zoom lens was used to capture it. Cameraman getting ready for waterline shots of the Missouri You can see how much higher the stern is with the reduced ballast. Camerman got this shot .The water is shimmering along the hull. The creature from the deep the Kraken is attacking the MO The Mo was on a collision course with the cameraman STERN VIEW. Looking much better now. An onlooker ran out to the edge of the dock to check out our boats. He gave the 2 thumbs up afterward.
WOW! Looking good there. I love this class of ships. The bow wave looks very cool indeed. Well done. Mikey
I finished painting the measure 32 whatchamacallit camaflauge on the Missouri. Just touch ups over the boo boos. I will try and get pics to post tonight after I get the catupults, Radar , crane and the planes on board. It took a while to do with very little space in my room to get at it. Lost 2 paint bottles tipped over in the process. I scraped enought to get most of the deck done and some superstructre but there are many areas that need a 2nd coat or 2. I gotta say once it was done it just pops out at you so I can imagine how it willl look on the water this weekend when I will run it alongside Yamato. I still have many details missing but they will come. I figure the Missouri will be well finished cosemeticaly by next spring. I hope to have her bb cannons installed by then too.
